D - 319 Days: Manning Farm Visit

First, a bone for those of you who, like me, wish I posted here a little more often. If you want more regular updates on my goings-on than this blog provides, you can follow me on Twitter (@DanGords). If history has taught us anything it's that I will probably post six times a day for a week or two, then cut back to once on a good day, and then cut back to once or twice a month before abandoning it altogether. But for now, I'm updating pretty regularly. So think about it.


twitter.com/DanGords

On Tuesday, April 28th, I left work a couple minutes early, rushed home, put a change of clothes in my saddlebags, and rode out to the Manning Farm in Dalton, PA. My friends Jason and Jaime had gotten married on Saturday the 25th and my friends Jason and Martha had extended their visit from Seattle by a couple days to see the pre-existing Mannings and meet the new Manning baby, Charlotte. Stefan and Biz were also spending a couple days out there so, over the previous weekend, I had started thinking about running out there to see everyone and meet the baby myself.

I was on the road by 6 and made it to the Farm just after it got dark, at about 8:45. Once I was clear of Canal St there was no traffic and I had a great ride.

When I got there, I was clearly right on time because pizzas were being made.


Stefan, Dough, and J as Spotter

The baby was asleep when I got there but Brian took me up to her room so I could get a look at her. Here's a picture of Brian and Charlotte that Martha took earlier in the day.


Bri and Charlotte. She's very serious.

We all hung out for a couple hours, eating pizza, drinking some beer, and suffering/joking through an episode of American Idol. What a horrible show. I can't believe anyone watches it, let alone practically everyone in America.

We got up in the morning, got to spend a little time with the baby, and then got ready to head back to the city. The forecasts had been for possible rain both Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, but the only rain we got was Tuesday night after I'd arrived. Wednesday morning was very cool but I was glad not to have to deal with rain.


Dan and Brian

The other four left in their car at the same time that I did, and we met up briefly in the parking lot of what used to be a truck stop where we thought we'd get gas and maybe have a bite to eat. The truck stop was shut down but Stefan took a cool picture of me from their car as we headed back to the highway.


Leaving Town

I headed for our Long Island office and had a nice ride, though a long one because I kept getting lost. It was awesome to be able to shoot out to the Farm just to see my friends for a little while. I was excited to make the trip because this is one of the main things I wanted to be able to do when I started riding: get out of the city, ride for a couple hours, visit friends, have some fun. I'm excited to get my bike back from the shop (more on that in my next post) so I can do more of this. Get upstate to see my parents...run up to Plymouth to see the Joneses...back down to Silver Spring to see my sisters...up to the Catskills to look at a couple properties and camp for a night...

One last note from this trip: on Monday or Tuesday, Stefan and a pretty pregnant Biz posed for a series of maternity photos. Our friend Martha is a pro photographer who specializes in motherhood and childhood work and her skills are ridiculous. When you consider how photogenically cool Stefan and Biz are; how magnificently beautiful Brian's Farm is; and how remarkably talented Martha is, you just knew the results of this shoot were going to be awesome. Here's a shot that I particularly like.


Stunning, right?

For more of this shoot and to see more of Martha's work, check out M. Larson Photography.